Filipino a True Hero”

The empowerment of women in the society today takes a lead of a milestone. Two scores ago rarely we
find women in top positions in our government. Does it mean that Filipino women in yesteryears were
not trusted of their capabilities to think brilliantly and perform bravely? Or must it be that men’s honor
and greatness were reverberating because it is what is likely to be remembered in our history discussion
and in literature? Today, I take pleasure to give life in our literary archives -the grandeur of one Filipino
woman’s role in the nation.

What we are today is deeply rooted in Philippine history of brave souls. Our country is a rich soil of both
heroes and heroines that paved way to our country’s freedom from the boundaries of various
colonizers. Many Filipino women collaboratively worked with our Filipino men in fighting against
oppression. Way back Spanish Era, women served a big role in our civilization.

One shining model is the “Lakambini of Katipunan” who bravely fought for the freedom of our country
despite that she is a woman. This pride of the town of Kalookan was not born rich. She attended school
in public; nevertheless, intelligent as she was, she was a recipient of multi awards. On her bloom years,
her parents Nicolas de Jesus and Baltazara Alvarez Francisco were not in favor of her suitor, Andres
Bonifacio, for the reason that he was freemason. Despite of this resistance, she still chose to love Andres
and got married. Andres, being the Supremo of the Katipunan with his fellow Katipuneros decided to
repeat the marriage and gave her the symbolic title “Lakambini” promising to obey all the rules and
fulfill its sacred purposes. She kept most of the secret files of the Katipunan even if this result to risking
her own life. There was the time when the Guardia Civil inspected homes unannounced. Lakambini
gathered all the secret society’s documents and drove all night around the village in a calesa, and would
return home only when assured safety.Lakambini was then called Aling Oriang , the founder and vice-
president of women’s chapter of the Katipunan of the Philippines.
She was considered as an ardent soldier, a horse rider, a riffle shooter, and manipulator of many
weapons which she can manipulate easily taking into consideration that she is a youth woman. She
fought for the Philippine flag to be independent; just like other brave men did during those times. It is
an honor to put in the picture her name as her bold life and deeds remind us how we can passionately
offer our support to male pursuit of goodwill for our country. .. Gregoria Alvarez de Jesus, a true hero
regardless of her femininity.

We, the women of today, will not just be satisfied and be reliant upon others. Instead we will commit
ourselves to give our best and fulfill our accountability to our fellow Filipinos. Let us keep in heart and
soul the heroic deeds of our heroines and emulate their ideals. We shall choose to stand for the right
and to shun evil that oppresses the Filipinos. Let’s have the rigorous movement to transform the society
in regaining lost values of corrupted Filipinos. Every effort matters regardless of its size as long as we
are unified as one mind fighting for the betterment of the next generation of our Mother Land,
Philippines. We fight against the shadows of Westerners creeping to the souls of the young and old
making them monsters of greed, power and pleasure.
 “A reluctant woman who change for the Filipinos”
“When a girl is born her wings are clipped. She is not able
to fly”. How unlawful the world to women’s scope in the early
times! But our gratitude to the brave women who took courage to
break socio- cultural traditions in reforming such discriminating
views and henceforth prove to the world their worth in the realm
of serving the society or the nation. Great women can be the
power beneath the wings of men and when men fail they become
the wings to serve further the unfinished mission of men.
Behind the success of the cause that Filipino heroes had
fought for us, were a number of brave women who stunningly
contributed to a great push to the revolutionists. However, I have
a better taste to share a life of a Filipino heroine which is worth
emulating in the contemporary times. A woman of the 21ST
century… Maria Corazon Aquino.
Her life is not unknown to you, she is the wife of a stalwart
Filipino leader, Benigno Aquino, who was exiled as a political
prisoner. As a spouse and a mother to 5 children, she served to
be the strength of the family in a foreign land.
Not until the husband, in his return in the Philippines, was
assassinated. She was tormented between the choice of focusing
on her family and serving the Filipino family in continuation for
the cause of her husband.
She was reluctant to run for presidency as she had no
experience serving as a political leader, but she sensed the need
of the nation after being presented with one million signatures
urging her to run. However, after the election, it was announced
that Ferdinand Marcos was still a president. But a multitude of
Filipinos gathered at EDSA in protest for the widespread voting
fraud. People were terrorized with the guns and tanks of the
military, but sustained campaign of Cory Aquino for unbloody
revolution created a powerful prayerful and peaceful rally with
rosaries and roses as their weapons to the military. This People
 Power Revolution successfully restored democratic rule against
the dictatorship of Marcos in our country.
During her term, there were series of coup attempts but she
was able to address these peacefully. Though her term failed to
undertake fundamental economic and social reforms and that
critics attacked her pres. Cory did not waiver from her decision
that the most important legacy of her presidency would be her
leadership style which is concerned with process over policy. More
importantly, she is an epitome of humility, and a Christian
servant. As Howard Chua- Eoan acknowledge in time magazine
and I quote, “ Aquino was never struck through the tumultuous
years . She was a good woman whose goodness alone at the very
end was what proved enough, if only by an iota, to save her.”
unquote.Her Mother of Sorrows image proved to be endearing
and effective cited Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein in the Guardian.
Also, she was even admired by the world for extraordinary
courage according to Clinton.
Friends, let this be a light to us that we can make things
happen for our country through optimism, diplomacy,
perseverance, goodness, and prayers. Gender, high educational
symbol, and achievements are not the true measure of a leader
that can bring change in our country.

zoom_in
sailing on her own free will with her people of great minds and adventurous hearts free for the reason
that there are Filipinos ready to fight and willing to die for their fellowmen and country. They give us an
idea that Filipino blood is blood of a true hero. Heroes are part of our culture and they can be men or
women. The place of a woman in our society evolves as time pass. There are times were women are just
for house and take care of the children but for today women are for business too.

The immoral and inhuman conduct of Spanish brought the Filipinos to revolution. One

Gregoria Álvarez de Jesús (9 May 1875 – 15 March 1943), also known asAling Oriang,[1] was the
founder and vice-president of the women's chapter of the Katipunan of the Philippines.[2] She was
also the custodian of the documents and seal of the Katipunan.[1] She married Gat Andrés Bonifacio,
the Supremo of the Katipunan and President of the Katagalugan Revolutionary Government. She
played a major and one of the important roles in thePhilippine Revolution.[1] After the death of
Bonifacio, she married Julio Nakpil, one of the generals of the revolution. She had one son from
Andrés Bonifacio and five children from Julio Nakpil.
Gregoria de Jesús was born in the town of Kalookan to a middle-class, piousRoman
Catholic family.[3] Her father, Nicolás de Jesús, was a carpenter who later served as
a gobernadorcillo.[1] As a young girl, she was an exceptional student and a silver medal recipient in
an examination organized by theGovernor-General and the local parish priest. When she became
a secondary school student, she was induced by her parents to stay home and look after her
younger sister and the family farm, since both of her older brothers had moved to Manila to continue
their education.[1][3]

First marriage and the Philippine Revolution[edit]

Main article: Philippine Revolution
When De Jesús was only 18 years old, Andrés Bonifacio fell in love with her and wanted to marry
her.[4] He revealed his intentions to her parents, but her father disapproved of the marriage because
Bonifacio was a Freemason. Bonifacio nevertheless continued to pursue De Jesús, and after almost
six months of courtship, she had fallen in love with him. She revealed that to her father and asked for
his approval on their marriage, to which he eventually agreed.[3]
Before they got married in March 1893, she joined the Katipunan adopting the
name Lakambini (Tagalog, "noblewoman", also "goddess" or "Muse"). They had a traditional
religious wedding at the Binondo Church, followed a week later by a ceremony according to the
Katipunan's rites, as the society's members did not approve of their marriage in the Catholic Church,
which was seen as an oppressive colonial force.[3] On the evening of the same day, the women’s
chapter of the Katipunan was formed, and she was appointed its vice-president and the custodian of
the society's documents, swearing fealty to the group's purposes.[3][4] When the Guardia
Civil inspected homes unannounced, De Jesús would gather all the secret society's documents and
drive all night around town in a calesa, returning home only when assured of safety.
A year later, she returned to her family's house because she was pregnant. She gave birth to their
only son, whom shechristened Andrés after her husband.[3] Two months later, during Holy Week of
1896, Gregoria and her husband returned to Manila to find their house destroyed by a fire. The
couple with their child were then forced to live in friends' and relatives' houses, but had to move
quickly from house to house. A few months later, their infant son died of smallpox.[4]
On 19 August 1896, the Katipunan was exposed by Teodoro Patino, a disgruntled member.[4] The
Spanish forces reacted quickly to halt the revolution. Many Filipinos were arrested, jailed, and shot,
but Bonifacio and De Jesús went into hiding. The Spanish government was able to tighten its
surveillance over the Katipunan. The remaining Katipuneros gathered and planned an attack on a
Spanish gunpowder storehouse. With an army of almost 800, the Katipuneros were successful in
their first attack, and were encouraged to advance to Manila, but Spanish reinforcements arrived,
routing the Katipuneros, hundreds of whom were killed or captured in the skirmish.[4] Furthermore, an
internal conflict in the Katipunan between Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo—the leader of
the Magdalo faction in the province of Cavite—had weakened the society.
On 28 April 1897, De Jesús, Bonifacio, along with his brother Procopio were captured by Aguinaldo's
men, led by Agapito Bonzón and José Ignacio Paua, in Indang, Cavite.[5] Andrés was shot in the arm
by Bonzón and Paua, who stabbed him in the neck, was prevented from striking further by one of
Bonifacio's men, who offered to die in the Supermo's stead. Another Bonifacio brother, Ciriaco was
shot dead, while Procopio was beaten senseless; Bonzón may have even raped De Jesús during
the attack.[6]
The brothers were and sentenced to death on trumped-up charges including sedition, and later
summarily executed on 10 May 1897 in the mountains of Maragondon, Cavite.[3][4]

Later life and death[edit]

Julio Nakpil, a commander of the Katipunan forces in northern Philippines loyal to Bonifacio, took
care of the widowed De Jesús. The two fell in love, and were married in the Catholic Church on 10
December 1898 in Manila.[3] After the end of the Philippine Revolution, De Jesús lived with Nakpil
and their six children in a house of Nakpil's sister, Petrona, and her
husband, philanthropist Dr. Ariston Bautista. The childless Bautistas cared for De Jesús and her
children, helped raise and educate them.
De Jesús later died in 1943 during the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines.[7]

“The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside,

but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect

comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest

development of the race.”– Susan B. Anthony was a suffragist, abolitionist, author and
speaker who was the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

“We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that

Read more: http://www.keepinspiring.me/inspirational-quotes-for-women/#ixzz4IO2hFalR

A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are

just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her
gifts.”– Nancy Rathburn , Psychotherapist

“A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.”–
Diane Mariechild, the author of Mother Wit and Inner Dance

We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be

attained.”– Marie Curie as a Polish-born French physicist famous for her

work on radioactivity and twice a winner of the Nobel Prize.
A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be

remarkably difficult.”– Melinda Gates, is an American businesswoman and philanthropist.[3]

we still live in a world in which a significant fraction of people, including women, believe that a

woman belongs and wants to belong exclusively in the home.”– Rosalyn Sussman, as a
Nobel Prize-winning medical physicist who conducted groundbreaking
research on type II diabetes.

Read more: http://www.keepinspiring.me/inspirational-quotes-for-women/#ixzz4IO4Ueewx

Read more: http://www.keepinspiring.me/inspirational-quotes-for-women/#ixzz4IO4I4di9

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Mediville Marie L. Sarmiento

BSA-2

Corazon Aquino.
Sahm Doherty—Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
 Corazon Cojuangco was born into a wealthy, politically prominent family
based in Tarlac province, north of Manila. She graduated from Mount St.
Vincent College in New York City in 1954 but abandoned further studies in
1955 to marry Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr., who was then a promising young
politician. Corazon remained in the background during her husband’s
subsequent career, rearing their five children at home. Her husband, who had
become a prominent opposition politician, was jailed by Marcos for eight years
(1972–80), and Corazon accompanied him into exile in the United States in
1980. Benigno was assassinated upon his return to the Philippines in August
1983. This event galvanized opposition to the Marcos government.

When Ferdinand E. Marcos unexpectedly called for presidential elections in

February 1986, Corazon Aquino became the unified opposition’s presidential
candidate. Though she was officially reported to have lost the election to
Marcos, Aquino and her supporters challenged the results, charging
widespread voting fraud. High officials in the Philippine military soon publicly
renounced Marcos’ continued rule and proclaimed Aquino the Philippines’
rightful president. On Feb. 25, 1986, both Aquino and Marcos were
inaugurated as president by their respective supporters, but that same day
Marcos fled the country.

In March 1986 Aquino proclaimed a provisional constitution and soon

thereafter appointed a commission to write a new constitution. The resulting
document, which restored the bicameral Congress abolished by Marcos in
1973, was ratified by a landslide popular vote in February 1987. Aquino held
elections to the new Congress and broke up the monopolies held by Marcos’
allies over the economy, which experienced steady growth for several years.
But she failed to undertake fundamental economic or social reforms, and her
popularity steadily declined as she faced continual outcries over economic
injustice and political corruption. These problems were exacerbated by
persistent warfare between the communist insurgency and a military whose
loyalties to Aquino were uncertain. In general, her economic policies were
criticized for being mixed or faltering in the face of masspoverty. Aquino was
succeeded in office by her former defense secretary, Fidel Ramos.

ory Aquino as the Leader of the Philippines

As president, Aquino was determined to “lead by example.” To indicate she was serious about
making a break from the past, Aquino insisted that her driver stop at red lights to let civilians pass as
she was being driven to her inauguration. During her six years in power she made every effort
possible to expunge the imperial trappings of the Marcos years. In 1992, when she drove to the
inauguration of her successor, she arrived not in Mercedes as other VIPs did but in a humble Toyota
Crown.

Although many saw her weakness and delay, Aquino did not waiver from her decision that the most
important legacy of her presidency would be her presidential leadership style, as she was always
more concerned with process over policy. In March 1986, she proclaimed a provisional Constitution
and soon after appointed a commission to write a new Constitution. This document was ratified by a
landslide popular vote in February 1987. She served for one term that lasted six years as defined by
the new Constitution, as she decided not to seek re-election. [Source: people.brandeis.edu]

There was however no change in the social and economic circumstances under Aquino's
government. It is important to realize that her government was pressured by huge popular
expectations, as the people prior to her had been living under martial law for 14 years. She saw
herself as a transition president, from going to dictatorship to democracy, as she believed the
Philippines would take at least 10 years to recover after Marcos Regime. It is also important to
understand, that what could have impacted her ability to create change was the fact that she had to
survive 6 coups and no one was loyal to her. [Ibid]

As President Corazon C. Aquino entered the final year of her six-year term in 1991, she presided
over a demoralized nation reeling from the effects of natural calamities and economic malaise. The
country had slid into dictatorship and gross economic mismanagement during Ferdinand E. Marcos's
twenty-year presidency. When Aquino was elevated to the presidency in an inspiring People's Power
Revolution in 1986, Filipinos' hopes rose. Inevitably, the stark realities of the nation's economic and
political predicaments tarnished Aquino's image. [Source: Library of Congress *]

Aquino's achievements, however, were significant. She helped topple a dictator who had unlimited
reserves of wealth, force, and cunning. She replaced a disjointed constitution that was little more
than a fig leaf for Marcos's personalistic rule with a democratic, progressive document that won
overwhelming popular approval in a nationwide plebiscite. She renounced the dictatorial powers she
inherited from Marcos and returned the Philippines to the rule of law; she lived with the checks on
her own power inherent in three-branch government; and she scheduled national elections to create
a two-chamber legislature and local elections to complete the country's redemocratization. *

Cory Aquino’s Image and Character

Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein wrote in The Guardian, Aquino “was the most recognisable
symbol of the turbulence endured by her country over the last four decades. Aquino avoided the
limelight, and was more comfortable among priests and nuns than politicians. Yet, with dignified
stoicism, she persevered with the duties of a presidency that had been thrust upon her by tragedy
and circumstance. This "Mother of Sorrows" image proved both endearing and effective. It enabled
her to count on the support of Cardinal Jaime Sin, ecclesiastical primate in the world's third largest
Catholic nation, and shielded her in the seven coup attempts launched by her enemies over the six
years of her presidency. Yet for all her moral virtue, as a president Aquino was naive and weak.”
[Source: Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein, The Guardian, August 1, 2009]
 Howard Chua-Eoan wrote in Time, “The arc of Corazon Aquino’s life lent itself to maxims, but two
hard-nosed ones seem particularly worth pointing out. First, political sainthood is a gift from heaven
with a Cinderella deadline — once past midnight, you are a pumpkin. Second, personal virtues are
never a guarantee of effective or successful governance. What was truly shocking about Aquino’s
tumultuous six-year term as President of the Philippines was that those maxims proved untrue.
Midnight always threatened Aquino but never struck; and she was a good woman whose goodness
alone, at the very end, was what proved enough, if only by an iota, to save her country. [Source:
Howard Chua-Eoan, Time, August 17, 2009]

“The exact opposite was foretold by the husband whose murder she vowed to avenge and whose
political legacy she promised to preserve. Anyone who succeeded Ferdinand Marcos, Benigno
Aquino declared, would smell like horse manure six months after taking power.” But “ Benigno
Aquino’s widow lasted more than six months; indeed, she lasted her entire six-year term.
Furthermore, she retained a whiff of sanctity even as her government rotted, even as Filipinos
worked hard to prove George Orwell’s aphorism that saints are guilty until proven innocent. As
Aquino ruled, every month seemed to diminish the political miracle of her astonishing rise to power,
but she survived. And her survival guaranteed the continuation of democracy in her homeland.” [Ibid]

Aquino's Early Life

Maria Corazon Sumulong Conjuangco was born on January 25, 1933 in Paniqui, Tarlac, which is in
central Luzon, north of Manila. Her maiden name indicates Chinese mestizo ancestry. Many of her
descendants came from China. Her parents were Jose Chichioco Cojuangco and Demetria "Metring"
Sumulong, and the family were of mixed Chinese, Filipino, and Spanish descent. The family
surname is a Spanish version of the Chinese name "Koo Kuan Goo." Among the wealthiest families
in the province, the Cojuangcos had various banking and commercial interests owned a sugar
plantation covering 15,000 acres. A Cory was the couple's the sixth of eight children. Corazon
means “Heart” in Spanish.

Cory Marcos’s father was a three-term congressman and her mother pharmacist, who was the
daughter of a senator. The Cojuangcos were one of richest clans in the Philippines. Her Chinese
great-grandfather's name could have been romanized to Ko Hwan-ko, but, following the normal
practice of assimilationist Catholic Chinese-Filipinos, all the Chinese names were collapsed into one,
and a Spanish first name was taken.

Seth Mydans wrote in the New York Times, “ Like the Aquinos, they belonged to the class of
oligarchs of Chinese, Spanish and Malay descent who have held the real power in the Philippines
since colonial days. She attended exclusive schools in Manila until she was 13, when she was sent
to finish her education at convent schools in the United States. Teachers and students remembered
her as a quiet, studious and devoutly Catholic girl. [Source: Seth Mydans, New York Times, July 31,
2009]

Aquino’s teenage years was that of a privileged, well-educated girl sent abroad. She attended
Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia and the Notre Dame Convent School in New York. She earned a
bachelor's degree at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York, where she majored in French
and minored in mathematics and worked in the campaign of American presidential candidate
Thomas Dewey in 1948. In 1953, she returned to the Philippines to study law. She was fluent in four
languages: Tagalog, Kapampangan, French and English.

Cory Aquino as Benigno “Ninoy” Acquinos Wife

After returning to Manila she briefly studied law at the Far Eastern University. There, she met a
young man from one of the Philippines' other wealthy families, a fellow student named Benigno
“Ninoy” S. Aquino, Jr. She abandoned her plans to become a lawyer after marrying Benigno. Ninoy
was a restless, rich scion of another prominent Tarlac family and a journalist with political
aspirations. He became a mayor, then soon afterwards became the youngest governor ever elected
in the Philippines, and then the youngest member of the Senate ever in 1967. Corazon concentrated
on raising their five children: Maria Elena (b. 1955), Aurora Corazon (1957), Benigno III "Noynoy"
(1960), Victoria Elisa (1961), and Kristina Bernadette (1971).

Kallie Szczepanski wrote in in asianhistory.about.com: “As Ninoy's career progressed, Corazon

served as a gracious hostess and supported him. However, she was too shy to join him on stage
during his campaign speeches, preferring to stand at the back of the crowd and watch. In the early
1970s, money was tight, so Corazon moved the family to a smaller home and even sold part of the
land she had inherited in order to fund his campaign.” [Source: Kallie Szczepanski, Asian History
Expert, asianhistory.about.com \*/]

“When Mr. Marcos declared martial law in 1972, extending his presidency beyond its two-term limit,
Mr. Aquino was arrested and charged with subversion and illegal possession of firearms. He spent
the next seven years behind bars. “Ninoy had become an outspoken critic of Ferdinand Marcos's
regime, and was expected to win the 1973 presidential elections, since Marcos was term-limited and
could not run according to the Constitution. However, Marcos declared martial law on September 21,
1972 and abolished the Constitution, refusing to relinquish power. Ninoy was arrested and
sentenced to death, leaving Corazon to raise the children alone for the next seven years. \*/

“In 1978, Ferdinand Marcos decided to hold parliamentary elections, the first since his imposition of
martial law, in order to add a veneer of democracy to his rule. He fully expected to win, but the public
overwhelmingly supported the opposition, led in absentia by the jailed Ninoy Aquino. Corazon did
not approve of Ninoy's decision to campaign for parliament from prison, but she dutifully delivered
campaign speeches for him. This was a key turning-point in her life, moving the shy housewife into
the political spotlight for the first time. Marcos rigged the election results, however, claiming over 70
percent of the parliamentary seats in a clearly fraudulent result. \*/

“Meanwhile, Ninoy's health was suffering from his long imprisonment. US President Jimmy Carter
personally intervened, asking Marcos to allow the Aquino family to go into medical exile in the
States. In 1980, the regime allowed the family to move to Boston. Corazon spent some of the best
years of her life there, reunited with Ninoy, surrounded by her family, and out of the scrum of politics.
Ninoy, on the other hand, felt obligated to renew his challenge to the Marcos dictatorship once he
had recovered his health. He began to plan a return to the Philippines.”